How would you build up a halfling wizard

[Fixer]

I have a friend who is feeling uninspired about his next character. The first level was chosen by committee (the way we are trying it this time) and he's a halfling wizard.

He can specialize, and he has all choices available to him in the splatbooks, and he has no clue where he wants to take the character.

Here is how the character is sitting right now. It was built using point-buy.

Halfling Wizard - 6 Str / 16 Dex / 14 Con / 16 Int / 12 Wis / 14 Cha

How would you build it?

*EDIT* This character has to be playable from level 1, because that's where we are all starting, so no level 20 builds that have to be very lucky to survive the first few levels.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

For PrCs, I suggest the wildmage, fatespinner, master specialist, alienist, or Archmage. MS can be entered at level 4, and builds power fast. Archmage is good for a dip, and the others are all cheap with good flavor and high power. If he has any ideas about character concept, I suggest you post them, because I don't want to take over this build, but a halfling wizard can do lots of fun things if you make him Chaotic.

[Fixer]

If he has plans he hasn't told me. I think he doesn't like the halfling wizard concept. He likes to play large, burly, dangerous-looking people but this campaign is all about everybody breaking from their traditional roles. I am trying to give him some options that he can choose from because he has never played a wizard at all and recently lost all his books due to an accident.

[Keld Denar]

Starting at level one.

Halfling - Strongheart - bonus feat

1 Wizard 1 Scribe Scroll(b), Improved Initiative, Skill Focus:Knowledge Religion
2 Wizard 2
3 Wizard 3 Craft Wonderous Item
4 Wizard 4
5 Wizard 5 Extend Spell
6 Divine Oracle 1 Oracle Domain Precience Sense Split Ray
7 Loremaster 1 (I think you can qualify for this here) Secret: +2 fort save
8 Loremaster 2
9 Loremaster 3 Spell Focus: Abjuration Feat Secret:Quicken Spell
10 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 1
11 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 2
12 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 3 Spell Focus: XXX (Illusion or Necro)
13 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 4
14 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 5
15 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 6 Skill Focus:Spellcraft
16 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 7
17 Archmage 1 Master of Shaping
18 Archmage 2 Chain Spell Arcane Reach
19 Archmage 3 Spell Power or Innate Spell: Teleport/Greater Teleport
20 Archmage 4 Spell Power


I'm 90% certain I got all my prereqs met. The only one I'm not certain of is whether or not you can enter Divine Oracle at that point. Other than that, I got the feat prereqs for DO, LM, Iot7V, and Archmage all pretty well covered.

This gives you craft wonderous early, to start mass producing Pearls of Power. Split Ray is one of the most powerful metamagics, use it with your halfling racial +1 hit and lots of tastey rays. DI gives you a form of evasion, which is totally gravy, the class also gives you Commune and several other nice divinations to your list. At later levels, Quicken and Chain are great for defense and offense. Archmage abilities are awesome. Loremaster alows you to double dip the Skill Focus:Knowledge and recover the feat from a secret, which is then used to meet the Archmage prereqs. Iot7V will make you VERY durable, especially after the 4th level when you get immediate warding.

As far as spells, you start with 7 (4 + 3)
Mage Armor
Color Spray
Grease
Ray of Enfeeblement
Benign Transpostion
Nerveskitter
Enlarge Person

Expand from there, picking up the key spells as you level:
Glitterdust
Fly
Evards
Eneveration
Solid Fog
Solid Fog
Wall of Force
Solid Fog
Freezing Fog
Solid Fog
Etc
Solid Fog

Hope this helps!

[Redpieper]

He could play an illusionist type of wizard, then he can still look large, burly and dangerous

[Fixer]

Where are some of those spells from? I am going to have to tell him because, as I said, he lost all his books.

[Keld Denar]

A lot of the ones I listed are from the PHB. Most of the ones that arn't in the PHB are in the Spell Compendium. He can play a very very effective wizard with just those 2 books. Most of the PClasses I listed are in the DMG and Complete Arcane, with the exception of DO, which is in Complete Divine. Those 2 books also have a decent number of spells for wizards in them, although many of the spells have been reprinted in SC. If he were to buy new books to play his wizard, I'd suggest either just SC, or SC and CArcane. The rest of the books can be borrowed from friends for a quick reference, or read for relevant material at your friendly local Barnes and Nobles, preferably with a cup of Starbucks coffee. This limits his required investment down to a limited amount, probably about $60 for SC and CArcane, close to $100 if he needs a new PHB.

[Mr. Friendly]

It depends if he needs to be utility or blasty.

If Utility, Have him be a Specialist Wizard (Diviner) with Evocation as his banned school.

If Blasty, be an Evoker with Illusion and Enchantment as the banned schools.

Something in between would be an Illusionist, but I am not a big fan of Illusionist.

In any case take Collegiate Wizard as the 1st level feat.

Most likely take either the substitution in PH2.... or.... if UA is allowed....

I would say go Conjuror and take Rapid Summoning and Enhanced Summoning.

In all cases, at 3rd level he will need to grab Spell Focus (whatever he's specialized in) and then from 4th to 13th take Master Specialist and... well.. that's it. After that he can take 2 more levels of Wizard before riding into Archmage.

[daggaz]

He had better hope that the DM doesnt give a **** about encumberance rules. A halfling at six strength can barely carely his clothes and a spellbook. Seriously, light load is something like fifteen pounds.

Why does he have so much charisma, is he going for party face as well? He would do well to put a few points on strength, bring it up to ten or at least an eight.

[cupkeyk]

Teehee, an opportunity to pimp my build...

Since he likes to be big and burly, I am making a halfling wizard that can match damage output with a big burly half orc spring attacking shocktrooper.

He will need to swap his cha with his str and pump str at level 4

[Fixer]

Teehee, an opportunity to pimp my build...

Since he likes to be big and burly, I am making a halfling wizard that can match damage output with a big burly half orc spring attacking shocktrooper.

What book is 'swiftblade' in?

*Edit* Nevermind, I see the link.

[i.jason]

Starting at level one.

Halfling - Strongheart - bonus feat

1 Wizard 1 Scribe Scroll(b), Improved Initiative, Skill Focus:Knowledge Religion
2 Wizard 2
3 Wizard 3 Craft Wonderous Item
4 Wizard 4
5 Wizard 5 Extend Spell
6 Divine Oracle 1 Oracle Domain Precience Sense Split Ray
7 Loremaster 1 (I think you can qualify for this here) Secret: +2 fort save
8 Loremaster 2
9 Loremaster 3 Spell Focus: Abjuration Feat Secret:Quicken Spell
10 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 1
11 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 2
12 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 3 Spell Focus: XXX (Illusion or Necro)
13 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 4
14 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 5
15 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 6 Skill Focus:Spellcraft
16 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 7
17 Archmage 1 Master of Shaping
18 Archmage 2 Chain Spell Arcane Reach
19 Archmage 3 Spell Power or Innate Spell: Teleport/Greater Teleport
20 Archmage 4 Spell Power


I'm 90% certain I got all my prereqs met. The only one I'm not certain of is whether or not you can enter Divine Oracle at that point. Other than that, I got the feat prereqs for DO, LM, Iot7V, and Archmage all pretty well covered.

This gives you craft wonderous early, to start mass producing Pearls of Power. Split Ray is one of the most powerful metamagics, use it with your halfling racial +1 hit and lots of tastey rays. DI gives you a form of evasion, which is totally gravy, the class also gives you Commune and several other nice divinations to your list. At later levels, Quicken and Chain are great for defense and offense. Archmage abilities are awesome. Loremaster alows you to double dip the Skill Focus:Knowledge and recover the feat from a secret, which is then used to meet the Archmage prereqs. Iot7V will make you VERY durable, especially after the 4th level when you get immediate warding.

As far as spells, you start with 7 (4 + 3)
Mage Armor
Color Spray
Grease
Ray of Enfeeblement
Benign Transpostion
Nerveskitter
Enlarge Person

Expand from there, picking up the key spells as you level:
Glitterdust
Fly
Evards
Eneveration
Solid Fog
Solid Fog
Wall of Force
Solid Fog
Freezing Fog
Solid Fog
Etc
Solid Fog

Hope this helps!

Two questions here:

1) Why spend your extra Feat on Imp. Init? Is a 20% bump to Init really that much better than a Lightfoot Halfling's extra 5% bonus to saves?

2) Prescient Sense comes at DO2, not DO1. Does that break the build? Would it be better to go for DO2, or is PS only gravy?

[nerulean]

At later levels, if he likes going big and beefy, he can always start taking the big transmutations. If you've got polymorph banned then the specific shape changing spells are still open, letting him effectively play wildshape wizard.

If he likes damage output, though, I'd take specialist conjurer barring evocation and something else of your choice, dump familiar for sudden jaunt so he never gets hit by anything, and then blast the hell out of the orb spells. This also leaves him with all the fog spells and some of the wall spells so he can play awesome battlefield control, not to mention the fact that he can summon things and still get to roll attacks like he's used to. Master specialist is kind to conjurers, and it's always fun to PrC early.

As for first level... he's still a wizard. His best method of surviving it to take advantage of his size bonus to hide and staying out of trouble.

[JackMage666]

Wizard 15/Archmage 5. Maybe another PrC sprinkled here or there - Geomancer's nice for the Book of Geometry.

I don't like playing broken characters. Theres no fun in that. Not being challenged by anything on the planet and yet destroying everything before the party can touch it just doesn't seem like it would be fun.

[marjan]

Wizard 15/Archmage 5. Maybe another PrC sprinkled here or there - Geomancer's nice for the Book of Geometry.

I don't like playing broken characters. Theres no fun in that. Not being challenged by anything on the planet and yet destroying everything before the party can touch it just doesn't seem like it would be fun.

The class is Geometer. Geomancer is the one that sucks. I would suggest Conjurer with Abrupt Jaunt and maybe focused specialist. If he is new to wizards more spells per day mean more than more options and conjuration is by itself very versatile. For PrCs I would suggest Master Specialist and then maybe archmage or something similar. Keep it simple since it is his first time. Builds with more than one or two PrCs are needlesly complicated. Choose rapid summoning only if you want to be dedicated summoner in which case Malconvoker is good PrC for him and then maybe Thaumaturgist.

[JackMage666]

The class is Geometer. Geomancer is the one that sucks.

Ah, yes, thank you for that. Geomancer does suck, and it doesn't even seem very fun. Geometer was what I meant, because it reduces math to such a basic level, spellbook bookkeeping becomes nothing.

[Keld Denar]

Two questions here:

1) Why spend your extra Feat on Imp. Init? Is a 20% bump to Init really that much better than a Lightfoot Halfling's extra 5% bonus to saves?

2) Prescient Sense comes at DO2, not DO1. Does that break the build? Would it be better to go for DO2, or is PS only gravy?

Just take DO 2, which delays LM a level, which delays IotSV a level, which drops 1 archmage level off the back. I'd suggest dropping spell power, as +1 CL is the most minor ability on the list.

And yes, the +4 init is worth it. At medium-higher levels, who ever goes first tends to win. Going first is a wizard is very very important. Generally, its easiest to battlefield control before an enemy can react. Improved Init + Nerveskitter + Combat Awareness = +15 init bonus before dex through expending 2 1st level spells that you can pearl of power back all day long. Thats also before magic items and marshall auras are factored in. I play with a group in Living Greyhawk that regularly have over +20 on initiatives checks every combat, which results in average 30ish inits. The wizard controls, the bard/marshall sings, the fighters charge, and the cleric delays or controls as needed. You don't need to roll saves as often if you end combats in 1-2 rounds, especially if you are able to go first to negate an enemies primary attacks. The only thing after the first round to do is for the fighters to have a contest to see who can get more damage in a round before they run out of things to power attack.

[marjan]

I agree that Improved Initiative is worth it. Maybe it would be better ,if UA is in play, to trade Scribe Scroll and wiz bonus feats for the same amount of fighter bonus feats. If he's not taking lvl20 wizard that shouldn't be big problem and you can essentialy trade scribe scroll for improced initiative at 1st level.

[Talya]

Improved Initiative, plus Nerveskitter. Be sure to take the level 1 spell nerveskitter (Immediate action that can be used while flatfooted, grants +5 to initiative). +9 to initiative, not including dex bonuses.

(not to mention, using Contingency with the trigger event being "When I cast Nerveskitter..." is damned cool.)

[Keld Denar]

Improved Initiative, plus Nerveskitter. Be sure to take the level 1 spell nerveskitter (Immediate action that can be used while flatfooted, grants +5 to initiative). +9 to initiative, not including dex bonuses.

(not to mention, using Contingency with the trigger event being "When I cast Nerveskitter..." is damned cool.)

Nah, if you are gonna do that, contingency AMF to the casting of featherfall. Neveskitter is too valuable to have your contingency tied to it (unless its a serious buff). By the time you are casting contingency AMF, most falls you encounter won't kill you. The ones that are long enough to kill you, you usually get a round while falling to teleport somewhere. AMF as an immediate action, however, is an amazing lifesaver, especially if you have a high spellcraft check.

(what, hes casting MDJ? I use my immediate action to cast featherfall and *pop* AMF springs up to protect me from MDJ.)

[goken04]

What books does he have access to when building his character? I have a fun halfling wizard build I never got to play, but you need Complete Adventurer, Mage, and Scoundrel for it. And SC always helps for the delicious rays...

He could stand to lower his charisma to pump either his DEX or INT for my build:

Wiz1- Ray Extension
Wiz2-
Wiz3- Split Ray
Wiz4-
Wiz5- Easy Metamagic (Split Ray)
Spelltheif1- Master Spelltheif

After that, take all five levels of Spellwarped Sniper (CS or CM one of the two) and finish it off with Unseen Seer (CS or CM, whichever the other isn't). Become the RAY BLASTIN' MASTER, with plenty of Sneak Attack, Steal Spell, and Wizard-casting-in-light-armor to boot!

[lord_khaine]

really, there is nothing wrong with just plain wizard 20.

from there he is free to choose from all the spells in the PHB, and can allmost change his char overnight as soon as his spellbook gets big enough (especaly if he gets a blessed book)

[Talya]

Nah, if you are gonna do that, contingency AMF to the casting of featherfall. Neveskitter is too valuable to have your contingency tied to it (unless its a serious buff). By the time you are casting contingency AMF, most falls you encounter won't kill you. The ones that are long enough to kill you, you usually get a round while falling to teleport somewhere. AMF as an immediate action, however, is an amazing lifesaver, especially if you have a high spellcraft check.

(what, hes casting MDJ? I use my immediate action to cast featherfall and *pop* AMF springs up to protect me from MDJ.)

Nerveskitter has the advantage of being available while flatfooted, but I suppose if you have access to Foresight, that's no longer an issue.

[Swooper]

Starting at level one.

Halfling - Strongheart - bonus feat

1 Wizard 1 Scribe Scroll(b), Improved Initiative, Skill Focus:Knowledge Religion
2 Wizard 2
3 Wizard 3 Craft Wonderous Item
4 Wizard 4
5 Wizard 5 Extend Spell
6 Divine Oracle 1 Oracle Domain Precience Sense Split Ray
7 Loremaster 1 (I think you can qualify for this here) Secret: +2 fort save
8 Loremaster 2
9 Loremaster 3 Spell Focus: Abjuration Feat Secret:Quicken Spell
10 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 1
11 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 2
12 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 3 Spell Focus: XXX (Illusion or Necro)
13 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 4
14 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 5
15 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 6 Skill Focus:Spellcraft
16 Initiate of the 7fold Veils 7
17 Archmage 1 Master of Shaping
18 Archmage 2 Chain Spell Arcane Reach
19 Archmage 3 Spell Power or Innate Spell: Teleport/Greater Teleport
20 Archmage 4 Spell Power


I'm 90% certain I got all my prereqs met.

Loremaster needs 10 ranks in any two Knowledge skills, so you can only enter it at 8th level.

[Keld Denar]

Loremaster needs 10 ranks in any two Knowledge skills, so you can only enter it at 8th level.

Thats fine, because as another poster pointed out, you don't get the evasion ability of DO until 2nd level. Therefore, you take 2 levels of DO after wizard, and then move into Loremaster. That bumps off the last Archmage level, but thats not a huge loss. Still a solid build.